About Us

Providing parents with safe and effective means for dealing with head lice.

About Lice Solutions Resource Network, Inc.

In 1998 a group of parents in Palm Beach County, Florida, become concerned with the increasing number of head lice cases found in their children’s schools. Sure that this was an isolated situation, they began to research ways in which other schools managed to avoid infestations within their school systems. What they found was even more alarming – the amount of head lice were growing epidemically; not only in their local area but across the country as well. Nowhere were families – regardless of income, ethnicity, or education level – truly safe from the risk of exposure to head lice. Fighting lice was also a costly adventure for everyone, not only in regard to treating it, but also – as many parents have found – in missed wages as they were forced to tend to the painstaking and often uncertain task of removing nits from their child’s hair.

In a hope to answer cries from desperate parents, Lice Solutions started as a community outreach grassroots movement that worked with trained technicians, to assist parents as they set out to battle their unwelcome houseguests.

From the start, Lice Solutions’ desire was to provide parents with safe and effective means for dealing with head lice. Its goal was to better educate parents in ways to prevent the spread of head lice, in hopes of minimizing the ever-growing number of cases. Lice Solutions also hoped that a better understanding would effectively help end the negative stigma associated with having head lice.

Technicians started traveling across a three-county area and in some cases even to other states where no help was available. Phone support was made available not only in the local calling area, but also in just about every state in the country. In one such case a call was even returned to Great Britain. Understandably, this became a tiresome and costly project. Much of the burden of this cost fell on the shoulders of those parents looking to help make a difference.

The organization diligently looked for better ways to accomplish its goals. The result was the formation of a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

Since then, Lice Solutions has helped thousands of families and to date remains the only nonprofit lice treatment organization in the country. With offices in Florida and Tennessee, Lice Solutions is an acknowledged leader in the industry and Executive Director Katie Shepherd is recognized as one of the top head lice experts in the world. In an attempt to keep up with lice-related demands and to help further much-needed services, Lice Solutions added training, research, global outreach, and family foundation divisions.

Katie Shepherd

Team

Katie Shepherd, the Founder of Lice Solutions, RN, The Shepherd Institute for Lice Solutions, LSRN Research, LSRN Global Outreach, and LSRN Families, is a globally recognized lice expert who conducts clinical lice research studies with major universities and is frequently invited to speak. Her book, Lice Advice, is regularly used to educate parents and school/camp administrators, thus promoting lice awareness and the benefits of using lice removal services.

Katie has more than 10 years of experience as a Principal Investigator in Clinical Research and works closely with a number of universities and pharmaceuticals. With nearly 17 years of hands-on experience, she oversees the world’s only nonprofit organization for the research, education, and treatment of head lice.

Katie has trained more than 250 individuals throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Mexico in The Shepherd Method™ of Nit and Louse Removal, which methodically removes head lice and nits. Her efforts to help people with lice have taken her to many places, including Cambodia, Honduras, Guatemala, and throughout Europe.

References

Katie has been at the forefront of her field for many years now, and has set up the preeminent model for louse-removal facilities. Katie has been a source of knowledge for my research group at the University of Florida for many years, and I go straight to her when I need the most up-to-date information about head lice. Katie is among the leaders in the field of debunking myths and dangerous home remedies, and is incredibly well respected among her patients, colleagues, scholars, and peers.

david reed

Curator, Florida Museum of Natural History, Department of Natural History, University of Florida

I am writing in support of Katie Shepherds’ expertise and long experience in the field of battling head lice. Her method of combing out head lice is extremely effective. I have known Katie and worked with her now for several years. She and her staff are among the best in the business.

The Shepherd Institute

The Shepherd Institute is Lice Solutions’ training arm. It was founded in 2004, as more and more individuals wanted to be trained in Lice Solutions’ unique method of Lice and Nit removal. The institute focuses on training individuals in lice removal and educating them on the most up-to-date and accurate “facts of lice”, debunking the myths that are commonly found on the internet.

To date, more than 250 individuals across the U.S., Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Mexico, and Spain have been certified by The Shepherd Institute.

The institute helps fulfill Lice Solutions’ mission in two ways:

Making accessible safe and effective lice removal services in areas where there were previously none.

Encouraging individuals to give back to the community through their for-profit businesses.

LSRN Research

Lice Solutions began researching head lice products in 2003, and LSRN Research was born. Since then, its research capabilities have grown from performing small bench studies to all stages of clinical trials. Almost every new lice-related product on the market has been tested at one of its facilities. Whether it is an over-the-counter product, a device, or one of the newer FDA-approved drugs, LSRN Research has participated in the research tied to most of them. Additionally, LSRN Research has ongoing collaborations with several universities; thus playing an instrumental role in helping update lice-related information.

From disproving outdated lice information to collecting head lice around the world, LSRN Research continues to push for newer, more accurate head lice data. Its efforts have not gone unrecognized. In the fall 2012, The University of Florida’s Museum of Natural History added a display on head lice to honor the efforts of Dr. David Reed, its curator. A segment of that display credits the contribution and efforts made by LSRN Research and Katie Shepherd. LSRN Research has also participated in several documentaries on lice with media outlets such as Nova Science and the BBC.

Send us your samples from around the world

Lice samples from all jurisdictions are always needed for research. Please help by sending us your lice!

When sending samples:

Place in a Ziploc bag or use scotch tape to affix lice under the tape and onto a white sheet of paper.

Include your name, telephone number, and location, along with the name, gender, and age of the individual from whom the samples were removed.

LSRN Global Outreach

Head lice are highly contagious. If not treated properly, it is possible that people might die from the bacteria in lice feces that get into open sores on the head. The sores are caused by scratching the itch caused by an allergic reaction to lice saliva. Realizing that children in many countries do not get relief from this itching, Lice Solutions started LSRN Global Outreach in 2004. Its mission is to provide communities throughout the world with skills and tools to maintain a lice-free environment; thus ensuring that children receive safe and effective treatment.

Teams of certified, highly trained lice technicians travel to schools, orphanages and remote villages to train local community members how to identify, remove and prevent head lice. Team members pay for their own travel and accommodations. Lice Solutions donates the combs and lice treatment products. Services are provided at little to no cost to sponsoring organizations.

Global Outreach Highlights

Honduras Orphanage

98 out of 147 children were found with head lice. LSRN Global Outreach trained 10 technicians, who then treated the children.

Cambodia Orphanage

41 out of 49 children found with head lice. LSRN trained teenagers there how to look for and treat lice. Two years later, another outbreak occurred, and a staff member commented, “How scary it is to see how excited the girls are to be able to treat lice again!”

Guatemala School

LSRN Global Outreach Team collected lice for a study with The University of Florida and shared treatment techniques with the school staff. To help the school treat students’ families, the team gave them many lice combs and treatment products.

Cambodia Pictures

Katie checking for head lice at Cambodia orphanage

LSRN Families

LSRN Families is a foundation arm that pays for treatment of needy families with head lice. It operates mostly on donations. In addition, when head lice is found at a school, and families pay for treatment at Lice Solutions, the school gets credit towards free treatments for children of its choice. A limited number of free treatments are available for qualified referrals through schools and social service agencies. Please contact us for more information.

Thank You from our Clients!

THANK YOU LICE SOLUTIONS!!! We appreciate all of your kindness and care. Your staff and all of your employees were so very helpful to us. We are so lucky to have had you on our side during our treatment. Thank you for your advice and time. We are definitely recommending you to our friends and family.

P.S. … Thank you for coming to our school in Hobe Sound and for checking all the students. Again, we think you are heaven sent! Love, and God Bless

allison foley

(You remember me, I’m the one with the super long hair) I’m OK now!!!

I just wanted to say Thank You for all the extra hand holding you did while I was there in your office with my 3 children. Although it was an itchy experience for us both physically and mentally, it was great to have Lice Solutions to get us through it. I will suggest you to anyone that I know needs lice service in the future.

jamie

I just want to thank the entire staff for helping my family. You all are truly wonderful and I appreciate being able to lean on you when I had no one else to turn to. I admire all that you and your organization do for our community.